Movie Reviews & Interviews from Washington

Ridley Scott hasn’t directed a sci-fi film since 1982’s Blade Runner. Now 30 years later, Scott’s fans welcome him back in one of the most anticipated films of the year, Prometheus.

There are several questions regarding the film, but the biggest question is whether or not it is a true prequel to Alien. Prometheus most certainly has prequel aspects, but overall, it is a stand-alone film. The other question is if you have to see the Alien trilogy to fully understand or appreciate Prometheus. I haven’t seen Alien in years and can’t remember the last time I sat down to watch it fully and I completely understood the film and admired it. In fact, the film probably works best on the audience member who hasn’t done much research regarding the Alien trilogy or the film.

The final question is whether or not you should see Prometheus in IMAX 3D, regular 3D or 2D. Scott is one of the few directors this year who actually shot the movie in 3D, so definitely see it in 3D. He did not shoot the film in IMAX format, so if you do pay to see it in IMAX, it’s converted and not the real thing. The 3D aspects of the film are incredible and about 10 minutes into the film I’d forgotten I was even wearing the 3D glasses.

The film opens in Scotland with two scientific explorers, Elizabeth (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie (Logan Marshall-Green), who discover drawings inside a cave that suggest life outside of Earth. The Weyland Corporation, led by Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) hires the two scientists to head an expedition into outer space to further investigate.

A couple years later, we meet them again on the ship, “Prometheus,” along with Weyland Corp. employee Meredith (Charlize Theron), a droid David (the gorgeous Michael Fassbender) and the captain Janek (Idris Elba).

Theron, who was originally casted to play Elizabeth, takes on the role of Meredith perfectly. Her character is polarizing in the fact that she wants to take control of the mission, pushing Elizabeth and Charlie away, but she also has the greater good of the ship in mind as well.

Fassbender plays David the droid and is without a doubt the best and most interesting part of the film. His character stuck with me in how much he strives to be human and how he compares himself to everyone around him. Fassbender is one of the best actors working today and this is his best performance next to Magneto in X-Men: First Class.

Prometheus is stunning, in that I’ve never seen anything like it before. I truly felt like I was in that world from start to finish and that is a rare quality in cinema today. The visuals were so beautiful and the sets were so intricately pieced together.

Keep in mind that Prometheus is rated R for some intense horrific scenes, but even if you aren’t a fan of horror (like myself), you will still appreciate what Scott has done here and will most likely be blown away with his sci-fi style.

Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is not only one of the best films of the year; it’s one of the best science fiction films out there.

Kevin McCarthy of NerdTears.com and I traveled to London for the world premiere of Prometheus. Check out his interviews with the cast below!